'I Didn't Say "A Central". I Said "Central"'

Foreign Miniser Jaswant Singh: Ladies and gentlemen of the press, goodafternoon. It's my distinct pleasure to be here with my friend, the Secretary of State, tomeet all of you. I had the pleasure of the occasion to meet him very recently inWashington on the 2^nd of October, and I am delighted to be able to play host tohim since yesterday. He leaves shortly for Shanghai, but as the Prime Minister informedthe Secretary of State, we are not treating this visit by him as a visit of the Secretaryof State of the United States of America in lieu of a formal visit.

We had, I had, a very cordial, very frank, and very fruitful discussion with theSecretary of State yesterday where we spent just under an hour discussing issues togetherand we had a pleasant supper together. We covered the entire range of issues, bilateralIndia, the United States of America, regional, as also global issues and, of course, inregional, asked that covering the latest developments in Afghanistan, particularly onSeptember 11 and thereafter October 2, came up for considerable extent of mutualdiscussion.

I do want to repeat that what the Prime Minister had said when he last addressed theJoint Session of the U.S. Congress about India and the United States of America beingnatural allies. I treat my friend Colin's visit as part of the same demonstration. Wecontinue to hold that September 11 was an assault on freedom, on civilization, ondemocracy, and India's stand against terrorism not simply starting from September 11, evenbefore that, have been unequivocal and we stand shoulder to shoulder with theinternational community and the United States of America in our battle against this globalmenace.

It is my pleasure, ladies and gentlemen, to now request my friend and guest, theSecretary of State, to share his thoughts with us. And, thereafter we are in the hands ofNirupama, and you are in her hands.

Secretary Powell: Thank you very much, Mr. Minister, for your warm welcome, andJaswant, I thank you for your friendship as well. It means a great deal to me. And I thankyou and all of your colleagues, especially the Prime Minister, for the courtesies extendedto me in this all too brief visit and I look forward to returning at some future time andspending much more time here in India.

As you have noted we are natural allies. Two great democracies who believe in a commonset of values that have served both of our nations well. President Bush has made itabsolutely clear that transforming a relationship with India and to put it on a higherplane is one of his highest priorities. I have found that this view is entirely shared byPrime Minister Vajpayee and his colleagues as well.

The United States and India have a responsibility as the world's largest, multi-ethnicdemocracies to work in close partnership with each other. The prospects have never beenbrighter for our cooperation across a whole range of issues and we have discussed all ofthese issues in the past dozen or so hours. President Bush asked me to come here todiscuss the global coalition against terrorism, and how the United States and India cancontinue our efforts over the long haul.

As an aside I might mention here and now that we know the Prime Minister will be comingto the United States for the United Nations General Assembly meeting in early November,and President Bush has extended an invitation to the Prime Minister to come to Washingtonon the 9^th of November for a working visit with the President, and we lookforward to receiving the Prime Minister in Washington on the 9^th of Novemberand I'm also pleased that, of course, that invitation has been accepted and I can assureyou, you will be warmly welcomed, Mr. Minister.

President Bush also asked me to convey his personal thanks to the Prime Minister forthe support we have already received from India and especially Foreign Minister Singh whohas been in the forefront of developing and presenting those support offers to us over thepast month. We have stood shoulder to shoulder in this fight against terrorism. Both theUnited States and India were quick to realize the attacks of September 11 were attacks onthe whole world. Citizens of some 80 countries were among the victims, including manyIndian citizens who remain among the missing. Our hearts go out to the families of thosehere in India who were lost, as do our heartfelt thanks to the people of India for theoutpouring of sympathy we have received for our own losses in the attacks.

I want to make it clear that our focus in Afghanistan now is eradicating the Al Qaidanetwork, to end the terrorist use of Afghanistan as a safe haven, to stop the invasion ofAfghanistan that has taken place as a result of the presence of Al Qaida. We will achievethat goal. President Bush and the international coalition are determined, and we willpersist and we will prevail. Only after the terrorists are gone can there be a broad-basedgovernment in Afghanistan that represents all elements of Afghan society, brings an end tofighting, lives in harmony with its neighbors and the neighborhood that it coexists in,begins the task of reconstruction, and welcomes the refugees back home.

My colleagues here pointed out correctly that the problem of terrorism is not limitedto Afghanistan, and I assured them that our efforts are directed against all terrorism.The United States and India are united against terrorism, and that includes the terrorismthat has been directed against India as well. Even before the September 11 attacks, theUnited States and India were cooperating extensively against terrorism. We established acounter terrorism joint working group last January for example. And now our cooperation iseven more intense.

Today, Home Minister Advani and I signed a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty that willenhance our fight against crime. Though clearly a major focus of my trip has been on waysthe United States and India can work together in advancing the international coalitionagainst terrorism, my talks with the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister and otherofficials covered many other important issues as well. We agreed on the far-reachingimportance of the new Indo-U.S. relationship, which is anchored by the commitment of ourleaders and by the friendship of our peoples. I am confident that our relations, alreadyimproving substantially, are becoming and will become even stronger. President Bush'swaiver of Glenn Amendment Sanctions allows the United States and India to move forwardwith broader cooperation between the two sides.

During the course of my visit, I had occasion to discuss President Bush's new strategicframework, and I briefed the Prime Minister on our continuing exchanges with Russia onthis very, very vital subject.

And we discussed how to promote stability on the subcontinent. In my talks both hereand in Pakistan, I have encouraged the leaders in both nations to continue their dialogueand to take steps to reduce tension between them. I leave India for the APEC Ministerial,confident that the United States and India stand together against the scourge ofinternational terrorism, strengthened by our shared democratic values, and ready as neverbefore to work together for freedom, prosperity, and security in the region and in theworld.

And finally, once again, my good friend, I thank you for the warm hospitality you haveextended to me. Thank you, Mr. Minister.

MODERATOR Nirupama Rao: Ladies and gentlemen, the Secretary of State and theExternal Affairs Minister will now take questions. We will have three questions from eachside. We will begin the first question from the Indian side and follow that sequence forthe American side asking the second question, and similarly the Indian side and theAmerican side following.

Please indicate to whom you are addressing the question and identify yourself whileasking the question.

QUESTION: ASHOK SHARMA, AP. How can Pakistan be part of international effort tocombat terrorism? Pakistan has supported terrorism in Afghanistan and Indian space andstill maintains diplomatic ties with the Taliban. Shouldn't India be attacking Pakistangoing by the logic of the United States of attacking Afghanistan?

FOREIGN MINISTER SINGH: I presume that question is addressed to me.

SECRETARY POWELL: You can take it! I would not want to be inhospitable. If you wishit, it's all yours. (Laughter)

I think Pakistan has made it clear in recent weeks that they recognize the nature ofthe Taliban regime and they are working with us to fight against Al Qaida, and they areworking with us to see what kind of government can be put together in a post-Talibanregime. We deplore terrorism wherever it exists, whether it's the kind of terrorism we sawon the 11^th of September or the kind of terrorism we saw on the 1^stof October in Srinigar. And, we believe that all nations, who are trying to move forwardin a 21^st century that I think will be shaped more and more by democracy andthe values of individual liberty and freedom, can join in this coalition. We welcome allthose who are committed to those principles and are committed against terrorism.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, George Gedda of AP. You said yesterday in Pakistan thatKashmir is a central issue between India and Pakistan, and you also said the aspirationsof the Kashmiri people must be respected. This caused some unease here in India. Do youhave any comment?

SECRETARY POWELL: Yes, I didn't say "a central". If you look carefully, Isaid "central" in the sense that I believe it's an important issue and tosuggest that it isn't wouldn't have been accurate. But it's more important to look at therest of my statement, where I said we should move forward on the basis of dialogue, on thebasis of efforts to reduce tension, to avoid violence, and with respect to human rights. Ithink that is a sound statement. The issue of Kashmir is one that has to be resolvedbetween India and Pakistan.

The United States is a friend of both of those nations, to the extent that both nationscan find our efforts to be helpful in some way or another, we will be willing to behelpful. But I think it is more important to focus on the rest of my statement than thatparticular word which has somehow had an article slipped in front of it while I wasn'tlooking.

QUESTION: (Inaudible). Usama Bin Laden in an interview (inaudible) claims that theIslamic world helped Pakistan build the nuclear bomb and as such is an Islamic bomb, andcan be used by them as and when they choose. Your comments please.

SECRETARY POWELL: Nonsense. There is no such thing as -- Usama Bin Laden is not arepresentative of Islam. He is a terrorist, he is a murderer, he has murdered innocentIndians, innocent Americans, innocent Pakistanis, innocent people from all over the world.And he should not in any way be elevated to the status of a leader who believes in anyfaith. He believes only in power. He has done nothing to help the people who are sufferingin the world. All he has done is brought more evil into the world, and death anddestruction to individual citizens. There can be no linkage between what he might be doingand what any other nation may be doing. I just reject that as nonsense.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, Patrick Tyler of the New York Times. A couple ofsummers ago, the Central Intelligence Agency was reported to suggest that America's plansto go forward with national missile defense would incite China to expand its nucleararsenal and that that in turn would incite India and Pakistan in an arms race in SouthAsia. Do you personally agree with that assessment? And you said you discussed strategicissues today, how did it come up today?

SECRETARY POWELL: No, I don't agree with that assessment. I think the kind ofmissile defense that we are planning on is a very limited missile defense. I think oncepeople come to understand one the kind of reductions we are going to make in our strategicoffensive weapons, significant reductions to much, much lower numbers, and when peoplehave a chance to get a look and come to understand the nature of our limited missiledefense, I don't think either Russia or China will find it destabilizing with respect totheir deterrent forces.

In my conversations both here and Islamabad, I heard from both sides about this issue.We did have a conversation. I took the opportunity of my meeting with the Prime Ministerto describe the President's strategic framework concept and to thank the Indians for theirunderstanding of the importance of missile defense. I get the sense that both nationsunderstand the nature of these weapons and the importance of constraining theirdevelopments so that they serve as deterrents and do not move from a strategy ofdeterrence to any other kind of strategy. So there is no reason for an arms race todevelop based on what the United States is planning with missile defense. In fact, I thinkmissile defense in the long run will be seen as stabilizing, not destabilizing, because ittakes some of the currency away from the value of strategic offensive weapons.

QUESTION: Sonia Trikha, Indian Express. My question is addressed to both of you.The Secretary said in Islamabad yesterday that you believe that the Kashmir issue iscentral to the relationship between India and Pakistan. This is not a view shared byIndia, which has advocated a composite dialogue covering various political and economicaspects with Pakistan, and not a unifocal approach as you have said that centers onKashmir alone. Do you think that the world sees the wisdom of India's stand in this?

FOREIGN MINISTER SINGH: I cannot answer. I think the Secretary of State has morethan adequately really read out what he said in Islamabad. There are obviously -- that isa position that the United States of America has and has had. And as two democracies wecould disagree on an event but we don't need necessarily to be disagreeable about thedisagreement and we can work together. The question of the state of Jammu and Kashmir isan example of the secular traditions of the Indian nation. In that sense, we really cannotmove towards reinventing the two nations (inaudible) and we have shared these views withthe Secretary of State and will continue to do so.

SECRETARY POWELL: I agree totally.

QUESTION: Martha Raddatz from ABC. Secretary Powell, there was a strain of anthraxfound in the letter to Senator Daschle that is said to be highly refined and pure,suggesting state sponsorship. Could you comment on that? And Mr. Prime Minister, do youhave concerns --

FOREIGN MINISTER SINGH: I'm not Prime Minister. I'd lose my job.

(Powell offers congratulations to Singh and shakes hands, amidst general laughter from all including Singh and Powell)

QUESTION: I'm sorry, I'm sorry (laughter). I'm so sorry. Should I ask forgivenessor should I be happy for him (laughter).

Could you tell me what your concerns are about the evolving and growing relationshipbetween the United States and Pakistan, and have you assured the United States that you'lldo your part to calm down tensions in Kashmir?

FOREIGN MINISTER SINGH: I can answer that very easily, I'm glad you asked that. Therelationship that India has and will develop with the United States of America is not ahyphenated relationship. We don't see it through any resin of relations between any othercountry. We have a relationship with our western neighbor. We are committed.

This government has demonstrated the commitment of improving our relations withPakistan as perhaps no other government in the last fifty years has despite thedifficulties in several areas. The Prime Minister has often said, and he repeated it tothe Secretary of State, that you can change friends but you can't change neighbors, and wecan certainly not alter geography, and Pakistan, with India, has to learn how to livetogether as good neighbors. It will come, be assured we cannot push the pace of it. Nobodycan push the pace of it.

To the people of the two countries, I have no doubt in my mind, realize the essentialsanity of what the Prime Minister of India has repeatedly said, that the two people haveto learn, have to forget the past, have to forget the mistakes of the past 50 years and wehave to learn to live together as we address what are our real enemies of today –poverty, want, as the two countries are enabled to move together in the 21^stcentury and meet the challenges of the 21^st century.

SECRETARY POWELL: I really can't add anything about the anthrax story and theDaschle envelope and what they analyzed. I just have not any more information than youalready have from Washington, so I better stay away from that.

QUESTION: Anurag Thomar of Zee News. Minister, Secretary Powell, what is yourperception about India-U.S. relations after having a whole lot of meetings on importantissues with senior Indian leaders? Where does it stand today, where does it go?

SECRETARY POWELL: I think our relations are strong. They have improved so much inrecent years. I was saying to my colleagues earlier that as Chairman of the Joint Chiefsof Staff and in most of the years I spent in senior positions in the U. S. military backin the 70's and through the 80's, we really didn't have much to do with India regrettably.And that is nowall changed. It is all changed.

So these two great democracies can now work together on areas of mutual interest. Weare trying to remove whatever irritations exist in our relationship. And this improvementwas taken place before the 11th September, and since the 11^th of September,with the strong support that we received from the Indian Government, we have theopportunity to accelerate the pace of change, and we look forward to seizing thatopportunity. And I think it will be in the interest not only of our two countries, but inthe interest of South Asia, as well.